Hansel and Gretel By Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti Candlewick $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-935179-62-7 Ages 6 and up When a successful writer of books for adults decides to traipse headlong into the world of children’s literature, the results are too often disastrous. From Donald Barthelme’s self-indulgent Slightly Irregular Fire Engine to the more recent, if […]

Halfway Home: Drawing My Way Through Japan By Christine Mari Inzer Naruhodo Press $11.95 ISBN: 978-0-9907014-0-8 Ages 12 and up On shelves now There’s been a lot of talk about the role of the reviewer when it comes to self-published books. Horn Book Magazine makes a point of not reviewing self-published fare of any sort. […]

Lulu & Pip By Nina Gruener Photography by Stephanie Rausser Cameron & Company $18.95 ISBN: 978-1-937359-60-7 Ages 3-7 On shelves now To what do we credit the distinct increase in children’s books containing photography this year? I posed that very question to a group of children’s book photographers not that long ago and the answers […]

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands By Katherine Roy David Macaulay Studio – Roaring Brook (Macmillan) $17.99 ISBN: 9781596438743 Ages 7-12 On shelves now. When you’re a librarian buying for your system, you come to understand that certain nonfiction topics are perennial favorites. You accept that no matter how many […]

Russell Brand’s Trickster Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin By Russell Brand Illustrated by Chris Riddell Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) $19.99 ISBN: 978-1-4767-9189-0 On shelves now. If there is a trend to be spotted amongst the celebrity children’s books being released these days then I think it boils down to a […]

Once Upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All the Letters By Oliver Jeffers Philomel (an imprint of Penguin) $26.99 ISBN: 978-0-399-16791-1 Ages 6 and up On shelves now Beware ever becoming a brand, my sweet, for that way lies nothing but unhappiness and ruin. Or not. I think the only real and true problem with […]

Water Rolls, Water Rises: El Agua Rueda, el Agua Sube By Pat Mora Illustrated by Meilo So Children’s Book Press (an imprint of Lee & Low Books) $17.95 ISBN: 978-0892393251 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Sometimes I wonder what effect the televised ephemera I took in as a child has had on my memories and […]

Caminar By Skila Brown Candlewick Press $15.99 ISBN: 978-0763665166 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Survivor’s guilt. Not the most common theme in children’s books these days. Not unheard of certainly, but it definitely doesn’t crop up as often as, say, stories about cupcakes or plucky orphans that have to defeat evil wizards. Serious works of […]

Fox’s Garden By Princesse Camcam Enchanted Lion Books ISBN: 978-1-59270-167-4 $14.95 Ages 3-6 On shelves now. Have you ever read a picture book multiple times, enjoying it with each and every read, and then find later that it was wordless . . . and you didn’t even notice? Now THAT is the mark of an […]

At Home in Her Tomb: Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Treasures of Mawangdui By Christine Liu-Perkins Charlesbridge $19.95 978-1-58089-370-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves now When I say the word “mummy” what springs into your mind? Movies starring Brendan Fraser? Egypt and scarabs and rolls of crumbling papyrus? Absolutely. But what if I told you […]

Bad Bye, Good Bye By Deborah Underwood Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-547-92852-4 Ages 3-7 On shelves now As a mother who recently spent the better part of twenty hours in a car with a three-year-old and a three-month-old baby, I feel a special kinship with parents who have also engaged in the ultimate endurance […]

El Deafo By Cece Bell Amulet (an imprint of Abrams) $21.95 ISBN: 978-1-4197-1020-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 2nd We appear to exist in a golden age of children’s graphic novel memoirs. Which is to say, there are three of them out this year (El Deafo, Sisters, and The Dumbest Idea Ever). How to account […]

The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee By Barry Jonsberg Chronicle Books $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4521-3351-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 9th It often takes a while to figure out when you’re falling in love with a book. A book is a risk. You’re judging it from page one onward, informed by your own personal prejudices and […]

Issun Bôshi: The One-Inch Boy By Icinori Little Gestalten ISBN: 978-3-89955-718-3 $19.95 Ages 4-8 On shelves now In the past, determining a bias in the publication of folk and fairytales was a fairly straightforward business. Too many European maids of hair as fair as the silk of corn on your shelves? Bias. But now we’re […]

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About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .